Issue - meetings

The Executive Director of Finance and Resources presented a report on the subject of the use of Levelling Up Funding in Phase 1 of the project.  Members were advised that the report was designed to confer authority on officers to spend the funding available, which would be allocated to works at Windsor Street and at the former Market Hall site.

During consideration of this item, Members were advised that the Overview and Scrutiny Board had pre-scrutinised the report at a meeting held on Monday 30^th May 2022.  At this meeting, Members had recommended an amendment to the second recommendation in the report, that this should propose expenditure “up to £2.266 million”.  Members had expressed the view that this would be more appropriate to propose from a procurement perspective, than expenditure of a set figure, to provide the Council with flexibility.  The recommendation that had been made by the Board had been published in a supplementary pack and Members were asked to note that this contained a typographical error, as it should have recorded a figure of £2.266 million rather than £2.66 million.

RESOLVED that

1)          progress made to date on the Levelling Up schemes be noted;

2)          authority be delegated to the Head of Planning, Regeneration and Leisure Services and the Executive Director of Resources to proceed to spend the Levelling Up Fund allocation up to a total of £2.266m on the required demolition and remediation works at the Windsor Street site and to engage a design and build contractor on the Market Hall site; and

3)          the timetable, where further approvals for the Market Hall project will be needed once options have been appraised and schemes designed via the invitation to tender, be noted.